KHARTOUM, Sudan – In a saga spun from the pages of a geopolitical thriller, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) find themselves tangled in a blame game over a recent event that turned an oil refinery into a smoking ruin, marking yet another milestone in their prolonged three-year conflict. The tension between these groups is akin to a pot on a perpetual boil—always simmering, never cooling.
One could not mistake the drama unfolding over the Al-Jaili refinery, which lies about 70 kilometers—roughly a stone’s throw when you’re counting in desert landscapes—from the bustling heart of Khartoum. Eyewitnesses, their faces as weather-beaten as the land itself, recounted to AFP how thick spirals of smoke blotted out the once-clear sky above the refinery. Can you imagine the suffocating blackness, a murky testament to their ongoing discord?
The RSF, mischief-maker or protector depending on who you ask, laid claim to controlling the refinery’s operations since the war’s first tumultuous month in April 2023. Such a claim couldn’t have come lightly; after all, this facility cranks out not just barrels of oil but the lifeblood of an entire nation. The SAF, however, retorted with their own version of events, accusing the RSF of engaging in wanton sabotage by torching the place when they couldn’t usurp Sudan’s treasures—its resources and land.
The RSF, not to be outdone in this heated rhetorical minuet, turned the tables right back on the military. They accused SAF of raining down destruction via barrel bombs during an early morning air raid. Adding another twist to this convoluted tale, the Joe Biden administration waded into the fray, imposing sanctions on both the army’s head honcho Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and Hamdan Daglo, the RSF’s figurehead. As if inviting both sides to the international naughty corner would untie this Gordian knot.
A source, speaking under the condition of anonymity—one might picture them wearing sunglasses and a trench coat—revealed to AFP that the army could taste victory as they edged closer to Khartoum North, also known by the more intimate moniker of Bahri. The SAF’s aim? To wriggle the RSF out of their tenacious grip on the city. In this game of strategic chess, capturing Bahri is a mere move, but a significant one nonetheless.
Meanwhile, the SAF’s recent triumph, seizing Al-Jazira’s state capital, Wad Madani, stands as a shimmering beacon of hope in their campaign. Situated at a critical junction south of Khartoum, Wad Madani had been under RSF sway for a little over a year, another pawn reclaimed in this endless battle.
The backdrop to all this? A nation cloaked in chaos. Sudan, still reeling from the ouster of its long-standing autocratic leader, Omar al-Bashir, remains a complex jigsaw of unrest. His fall in 2019, a direct consequence of civilian might met with military might, only laid the groundwork for today’s turmoil. Al-Bashir waits, a specter in prison, convicted of crimes that echo painfully across the Horn of Africa.
In this melodrama without clear heroes or villains, one must wonder: Is there room for peace, or will the drums of war beat on indefinitely? Until then, Khartoum’s horizon might remain ominously obscured by the plumes of discord, serving up more blame than solutions.
Report By Axadle
